Assessee filed an appeal manually before Commissioner (Appeals) as assessee was a Non-Resident Indian and was not having Aadhar number linked with PAN so as to prefer an appeal online as per provisions of Rule 45 of Income-tax Rules, 1962. Subsequently, assessee filed a declaration under Direct Tax Vivad Se Vishwas Scheme, 2024 wherein it was stated that appeal filed before Commissioner (Appeals) was pending on 22-7-2024. However, declaration filed by assessee was rejected on ground that appeal was not maintainable as same was not filed online as per provisions of Rule 45 and, thus, assessee would not be eligible for benefits of scheme. On writ the Court held that   as per FAQ No. 36 which was inserted by Guidance Note No. 2/ 2024 dated 16-12-2024, CBDT had clarified that assessee would be eligible for settlement under Scheme as appeal was pending as on 22-7-2024 and disputed tax was to be calculated in same manner as if pending appeal on 22-7-2024 was yet to be disposed of, though appeal would have been disposed of on merits or otherwise. Since appeal filed by assessee was pending on the specified date 22-7-2024, the Designated Authority was not justified in rejecting the declaration filed by the assessee on the ground that the appeal filed by assessee was an invalid appeal, as the appeal was very much pending as on 22-7-2024, even if the same was held to be invalid subsequently. Therefore, communication rejecting the declaration filed by the assessee was set aside and the assessee was to be allowed to avail benefits of the scheme.(AY. 2012-13)